AFC Energy reports success in methanol 'fuel tower' trial

Hydrogen power generation specialist AFC Energy updated the market on the development of its ‘flex-fuel’ methanol development and methanol ‘fuel tower’ concept line on Monday.

The AIM-traded firm said that after several months of development work, the field trial of its first prototype methanol fuel tower had been successful, generating on-site hydrogen from methanol.

It said the fuel tower consists of methanol handling systems, fuel reformation and purification technologies, control and safety electronics, with “discreet intellectual property” developed across several of those areas.

The field trial was conducted in Spain in collaboration with, and at the request of, one of AFC Energy's construction partners Acciona.

During the trial, the methanol fuel tower provided hydrogen to fuel cell modules within the AFC ‘power tower’ that had been successfully operating to displace diesel generators at the construction site's compound since August.

The board said the methanol fuel tower concept had already operated for more than 100 continuous hours fueling AFC’s fuel cell platforms.

It said the initial tests were undertaken at AFC’s UK technical centre, adding that the concept was aligned with AFC’s flex-fuel approach to meeting industry needs for low-cost, on-site hydrogen production across construction, temporary power, backup power and maritime sectors.

The company said it was now engaging with industry to validate the product concept as part of its wider flex-fuel strategy.

“Today's announcement is an important step forward in the design and delivery of AFC Energy's flex-fuel approach to hydrogen power generation,” said chief executive officer Adam Bond.

“There are many remote locations where economic supply of hydrogen fuel is not possible and where hydrogen carrier fuels such as ammonia and methanol will play an important role to support the decarbonisation of industry.

“We have already seen methanol and ammonia highlighted as key fuels to reduce reliance on fossil fuels in the maritime sector, and with this week's field trial of the methanol fuel tower with Acciona in Spain, we can see further opportunities for future deployment of systems across the construction and temporary power sectors of the economy.”

At 1054 GMT, shares in AFC Energy were up 4.27% at 22.94p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.